[[The remark you quoted is the reason I thought the link might be of interest, Roy. It seems to me, by the way, that the turnaround can be justified by arguing that a fan who simply gives the ball back immediately has never accepted possession in the first instance. Surely this would be the ruling if the fan simply threw the ball back onto the field. Wouldn't it?]]

I would certainly think that this would be a valid argument. But it would depend upon how many hairs IRS would want to split on the issue.

IRS would most likely say that "title" passed to the person who caught the ball. It is my understanding that once the ball leaves the ballpark, it is no longer the "posession" of the major league club, and that "title" passes to the person who caught the ball. So IRS would most likely look to local law (and MLB rules) regarding when the ball was the actual property of the person who caught it.

So this would be much different than somebody finding a bag of money, and returning it to the rightful owner. That action is clearly not a taxable event. It would be more akin to somebody finding a bag full of money and giving it to somebody that the finder "believes" should actually have the money.

And while this is all really mental mastrubation, it's kinda fun. Thanks for keeping the thread going, Bob.

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